Golf ranges, both outdoor and indoor, are commonplace and serve to permit a golfer to practice a variety of shots with different clubs. While practice is required if a golfer wishes to improve their game, many golfers find practice at a golf range to be quite boring, particularly in comparison to actual play. Accordingly, Accu-Sport International, Inc. of Winston-Salem, N.C. has developed an apparatus for simulating a golf game at a practice range as described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,924 to James W. Kluttz, et al., the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
As described by the Kluttz '924 patent, the golf game apparatus includes a display positioned adjacent to the tee area of the practice range to display a simulated golf hole layout. Following a golf shot, the golf game apparatus determines the total distance of the shot based upon the actual flight time of the golf ball, the linear flight distance of the golf ball to an initial impact position and a simulation of the anticipated roll of the golf ball following impact. As a result, the display can also provide an indication of the final resting position of the golf ball relative to the simulated golf hole layout. The golf game apparatus of the '924 patent therefore provides a golfer with a significant amount of information regarding their practice shots, including the linear flight distance and the total distance of each shot. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,898,388 and 5,029,866 to Bryce P. Beard, III, et al. which describes a system including a number of vibration sensors for determining the impact location of a golf ball and a display for providing a golfer with a visual representation of the relative position of the impact location with respect to a predetermined target. The contents of the Beard '388 and '866 patents are also incorporated herein in their entireties.
While the devices described by the Kluttz '924 patent and the Beard '388 patent represent great advances in the art, golfers must still attempt to interpret the displayed results in order to determine how well or how poorly they are hitting the golf ball. Accordingly, golfers may find it to be relatively difficult to compare the performances during different visits to the practice range or to compare their performance to the performance of another golfer at the same practice range.